Total Drama Island: The Caelan (The Initiator) Chronicles
by Gin13
Summary: *Alternative Universe* Cody decided to apply to Total Drama Island in order to meet other cool people like him. However, his plans don't go the way he hoped when, during his audition tape, his brother, Caelan, disturbs him. Chris McLean saw Cody's botched audition tape, and decided to make Caelan a contestant rather than Cody. Shenanigans happen.
1. Audition tape

A video camera was recording a keyboard when a boy's face suddenly appeared in front of the camera. He mused whether the camera was in focus. After the inspection, he quickly got behind the keyboard and began to play, but he stopped when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Hey, Cody," said the voice on the other side of the door, "hurry up and come down for lunch!"

The boy behind the keyboard, Cody, responded with a groan, "Not now Caelan! I'm busy!"

"Busy with what?" Caelan replied, "And why is your door locked?"

The camera was still recording when there was a bang at the door and the sound of wood shattering. Cody looked in horror as another boy walked into his room. The new boy, Caelan, had long, messy brown hair and a curious look on his face as he stared at the camera.

"What are you up to now, little brother?" Caelan asked.

Cody sighed in annoyance, "If I tell you, will you leave me alone?"

"Probably not." Caelan responded as he fiddled with the keyboard.

Cody tried shoving his older brother aside, but he was unable to move him an inch. As Cody continued his endeavor, he said, "I'm recording my audition for Total Drama Island."

"You were serious about that?" Caelan said, surprised.

"Yes!" Cody said. He gave up trying to push Caelan and simply gestured to the door, "Now please leave! You're bringing down my coolness."

Caelan chuckled slightly, "Trust me, Cody, there are a lot of factors that bring down your coolness, but I'm not one of them."

"Whatever! Just get out!" Cody said as his face began to look like a tomato.

Caelan looked at Cody for a couple of seconds and smiled, "Alright, tell you what. If you can punch me in the face, then I will leave you alone."

As soon as the words left Caelan's mouth, Cody instantly launched a punch at his brother's face. Caelan, however, quickly grabbed Cody's fist and sent it right back to _his_ face. Cody groaned in pain for a second before doing an uppercut, but Caelan's kick was quicker and Cody was sent flying to the wall. There was a pause before Cody leapt into the air and toward his brother, but Caelan grabbed his brother's arms and slammed him into the ground.

"Don't you now regret not joining me for my morning workouts?" Caelan said as he saw Cody sprawled on the floor.

"I'm…not finished…yet." Cody groaned.

As Cody struggled to get up, Caelan smiled, "When is the last day to turn in the audition tape?"

"The cutoff date is in two weeks." Cody said, still trying to catch his breath.

"Then that gives us enough time to train you so you won't be such a push over at Total Drama Island." Caelan grinned at Cody's surprised look, "Now come on, we need to get some meat on those scrawny things you call arms."

Caelan grabbed his brother's feet and began to drag him out of the room. The camera was still recording until Caelan walked back into the room and turned it off.

* * *

_**2 weeks later**_

* * *

It was early in the morning when Cody stepped into his room. He had just gotten back from sending his audition tape and he was in bliss as he plopped back onto his bed. His peace, however, ended when his door slammed open and Caelan barged in.

"Good morning, little brother!" Caelan said loudly, "I've got a surprise for you."

Cody responded with a grunt. He then turned to face his brother and saw that he was holding a video tape.

Caelan grinned and said, "I spent all last night editing the crap out of your audition tape. Not to toot my own horn, but I would be shocked if you don't get chosen."

Cody didn't respond at all. He simply looked at the tape Caelan was holding in horror. Cody knew that he only recorded his audition twice. If Caelan was holding the rehearsed audition tape, then that meant Cody sent the first audition tape. The one with Caelan.

* * *

_**One week later, at a Canadian recording studio**_

* * *

Chris McLean was laughing heartily at an audition tape for Total Drama Island.

"Man, I hope they had plenty of aloe for that guy." He said as he wiped a tear from his eye. He took the tape from the VCR and tossed it to the 'Rejected' pile. He picked up another tape from bulging bag labeled 'Fresh Meat'. The tape was labeled 'Cody's Audition'. Chris popped the tape in and watched.

* * *

_**One month later…**_

* * *

Caelan was leaning on the rails of a ship as it sailed to where Total Drama Island would be filmed. He couldn't believe that someone actually like Cody's botched audition tape and that instead of Cody; they picked _him_ to be a contestant. Caelan originally thought of declining the offer, but he couldn't after seeing how much the reward money was. So, even though his brother now hated him, Caelan decided to accept the offer and be a contestant. After looking out onto the ocean for half an hour, pondering what he would do with the reward money, Caelan got up from the rails, made sure his satchel and duffle bag were safely secured on his person, and decided to look for the other 21 contestants. Since he was here, Caelan decided he might as well make some friends.

Caelan walked for a couple of minutes before he met on of the contestants. She had her hair in a ponytail and wore glasses. Caelan walked up to her,

"What's up? My name's Caelan." He said.

The girl turned to him and smiled, revealing a set of braces.

"Hi!" She said vigorously, "My name is Beth. It's nice to meet you."

As she spoke, spit sprayed from her mouth and some got into Caelan's eye.

"Ah!" Caelan cried in surprise, "Say it, don't spray it."

Beth looked mortified, "I'm sorry."

Caelan rubbed his eyes and saw that Beth looked genuinely concerned. Caelan then chuckled "Nah, don't apologize. What's a little spit between friends, right?"

Beth looked relieved, "Yeah, friends."

"Sweet." Caelan said, "Well, I'm gonna explore the ship a bit more. I'll be seeing you, Beth."

"See ya later." Beth said as she waved goodbye to Caelan.

'_Nice girl.' _Caelan thought as he looked for other contestants, _'I hope her friendliness doesn't bite her in the ass later.'_

Caelan walked around a corner when he walked into something big that managed to knock him down. He looked and saw a guy with wearing a green shirt that barely hid his bulging muscles. The stranger saw Caelan and lent a helping hand.

"My bad, bro." The stranger said, "I shouldn't be standing in the middle of the hallway like that. The name's DJ."

Caelan smiled and took the hand, "It's all good. My name's Caelan."

"Nice to meet you." DJ said as he lifted Caelan effortlessly and then gave him a bone-crushing hug.

"Too much!" Caelan yelled as he felt his back begin to break.

"Sorry, Caelan." DJ said as he set down the brown-haired boy, "Anyways, I better get moving before I accidently knock someone else off their feet. I'll be seeing you."

With a slap to the back, DJ left Caelan, who was still nursing his back.

'_Maybe these people are a little too nice.'_ Caelan thought.

Caelan quickly walked away in case DJ came back to bruise some more bones. As he exited the hallway, he found himself back out onto the railings overlooking the sea. He also saw a girl, who was clearly Goth, leaning on the railing. Caelan leaned on the railing next to her and held out a hand,

"Hi, the name's Caelan."

The Goth girl looked at him for a second and said, "Gwen."

Caelan held his hand out for a while longer before realizing Gwen wasn't taking it. He retracted his hand and said, ""So, how are you?"

Gwen gave Caelan a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Caelan became increasingly awkward as the seconds rolled by.

"So, this was fun." Caelan said as got off the railings, "I guess I'll be seeing you later." He stuck out his hand again.

"I guess so." Gwen said monotonously. She still didn't take the hand.

Caelan sighed, "Freakin' Libra."

Gwen turned to Caelan, "What?"

"Libra." Caelan repeated. "I just assumed your sign was Libra because you don't really convey emotions."

"Are you into astrology?" Gwen said curiously.

"Not really." Caelan admitted, "Just the horoscopes."

"Oh." Gwen said, clearly disappointed.

"Hey, if you're so interested in astrology, maybe you can teach an ignoramus like me?" Caelan said.

Gwen smiled briefly and said, "Maybe some other time."

Caelan smiled, "I'll hold you to it. Laters." He waved Gwen goodbye, and Gwen actually waved goodbye back.

'_That started out rocky, but it ended nicely.'_ Caelan thought as he walked away. As he looked for more people, there was a large gust of wind. With the wind came a large hat flying over him. When he grabbed the hat out of the air, he heard rushing footsteps behind him. Caelan turned and saw a blonde guy with an open pink shirt rushing toward him.

"Dude thanks!" the blonde guy said as he saw Caelan holding the hat, "You totally save my hat, bro."

"No problem." Caelan said as he gave him his hat back, "The name's Caelan."

"Sup, Caelan. I'm Geoff." The blonde guy said as he took Caelan's hand and shook it, "Hey, when we get to the resort, I'm so treating you to whatever you want, man."

"That sounds awesome!" Caelan said.

"Sweet." Geoff said, giving Caelan a fist bump on his shoulder, "Be seeing you, bro." And Geoff placed his hat back on his head before rushing off to wherever he was going.

'_What a nice guy.' _Caelan thought with a smile.

Caelan continued his search for more people. He rounded another corner and, once again, bumped into someone. This time, however, the person he bumped into was the one knocked down.

"I'm really sorry." Caelan said quickly as he helped the person, who was a blonde girl with a blue bandana, up.

"That's okay." The girl said, "I was thinking too much, so I couldn't tell where I was going. Oh, I'm Lindsay."

"I'm Caelan." Once the girl was standing up, Caelan couldn't help but gawk at her body. She was _way_ too skinny. He was amazed that her miniscule waist was able to support her large breast. As he continued to observe her body, Lindsay giggled and began to turn a bit, as though modeling her body. Caelan decided to finally speak, but there was only one thing he could think to say,

"You need to eat a burger." Caelan said bluntly.

Lindsay giggle, "You're so silly, Kyle-"

"It's Caelan."

"Don't you read any dieting magazines?" Lindsay continued as though she didn't hear Caelan, "They say that all you need is to drink water and eat an orange daily to maintain a healthy figure." She then modeled her body again as though to prove her point.

"Oh honey." Caelan said sympathetically. He reached into his satchel, pulled out a sandwich, and handed it to Lindsay.

She eyed it suspiciously, "Does this have carbs? I'm on a 'no carb' diet."

"This is a special kind of sandwich." Caelan assured, "This has absolutely no carbs, and it gives you a lot of energy. Try a bite."

"Okay." Lindsay said. She took the sandwich, bit into it, and her face lit up, "OMG! This is really good. Thanks, Kevin."

"It's Caelan." Caelan corrected.

"That sounds hard to remember." Lindsay said, "Can't I just call you K?"

"But there's no…You know what, sure. K's fine."

"Yay! Thanks K."

Lindsay continued to eat the sandwich. Caelan smiled at Lindsay, quickly patted her on the head, and walked away.

'_Oh honey.'_ Caelan thought. He wondered whether Lindsay would be able to last long in the competition.

Caelan's journey continued and he met a new face. It was another girl and she had long black hair.

"Hey, I'm Caelan." He said as he extended his hand.

As the girl turned to face him, Caelan got a glimpse of her eyes and he suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. The girl saw the hand and shook it briefly.

"Heather." The girl said.

"So, Heather, how are you doing?" Caelan asked.

Heather eyed Caelan for a while, like a judge at a dog show. After a while, Heather simply shook her head and left.

'_That was…weird…'_ Caelan thought. He decided not to think about it, so he walked away.

Caelan walked for a while until he met another contestant. The new guy was wearing a red track suit and was stretching his legs.

"Ready for the marathon?" Caelan asked.

"Always." The guy said enthusiastically, "I'm gonna run a lap around the ship and see if I can beat my time." He then looked at Caelan, "Hey wanna race me? Excising is boring by yourself."

"Sure. By the way, I'm Caelan."

"I'm Tyler." He said as he got into position. Caelan adjusted his luggage and also got into position.

"Go!" Tyler yelled and the two were off. Caelan was off like a rocket, giving everything he had. Tyler was doing a good job keeping up until he tripped on his own shoelaces. Caelan wanted to help him up, but his competitive side was in control, so he continued on.

He was halfway around the ship when someone ran past him. He thought it was Tyler, but it was actually a girl in a tight blue track suit. Caelan now raced against the girl, but it was obvious he was no match. He began to slow to a halt, and when the girl saw him slow down, so did she. As Caelan tried to catch his breath, the girl past him a water bottle.

"Thank…you." Caelan panted as he took a swig of water. Once he finished, he past the water back to the girl and held out a hand, "I'm Caelan."

The girl took his hand and crushed it with her grip, "I'm Eva." She said in a gruff voice.

When she let go, Caelan massaged his hand and said, "Well, Eva, looks like you beat me this time. How about we race again?"

Eva glared at Caelan, "If we race now, I'd easily beat you. Come and see me when you're rested, and then you can have your rematch."

"Deal." Caelan said with a nod. Eva nodded as well and left. Caelan stood in his spot and rested. While he was resting, he heard someone behind him.

"Excuse me." They said.

Caelan turned around and saw a girl with brown hair and freckles.

"Hi, I'm Courtney. Nice to meet you." She said as she extended her hand.

"Hi Courtney, I'm Caelan." He said as he took her hand, "What brings you around here?"

"Well, I'm trying to find the other contestants to introduce myself, but you're the first one I've seen."

"Really?" Caelan said, "I've been seeing the others everywhere."

"So you already had the first impressions?" Courtney said, "Impressive. Looks like you're my campaign rival." She gave Caelan a competitive smile before going on her way.

'_That girl probably eats, drinks, and sleeps politics.'_ Caelan thought.

Before Caelan could leave, he was smack by something long that knocked him to the ground. He looked up to see what hit him and he was surprised by what he saw; a surfboard. His momentary confusion ended when he saw where the surfboard came from; a blonde surfer girl.

"Sorry about that." the girl said as she helped him up, "I really gotta learn how to carry this thing around people. I'm Bridgette."

"I'm Caelan, and no worries. I've always wanted to know how it felt like to be hit by a surfer girl with a surfboard. I can now cross that off the list."

Bridgette laughed, "Well, I'm glad I can help. Hey, if you want, I can also teach you how to surf when we get to the beach. Something tells me that's also on your list."

"How did you know?" Caelan said, "I'd be honored if you teach me."

"Right on." Bridgette said. She waved goodbye and went on her merry way.

'_What a nice girl.'_ Caelan thought.

Caelan walked for another minute or so when he suddenly heard music above him. He found stairs that led to the upper level and followed the music. As he got closer, he realized that it was a guitar making music. And not just any music, but beautiful music.

Caelan rounded a corner and finally found the source. It was a guy, who could only be described as cool-looking, sitting against the wall as he continued his melody. He played his guitar for another minute before finishing, and that was when Caelan applauded.

"That was amazing!" Caelan said. The guitarist was slightly taken back by the sudden applause, but he smiled gently.

"Thanks man." The guy said, "But that wasn't much. I was just strumming some chords. The name's Trent."

"Hey Trent, I'm Caelan. Don't sell yourself short; you're great. How long have you been playing?"

"A couple of years now." Trent said, "I mostly like playing romance songs."

Caelan chuckled, "I bet your girlfriend loves it when you play for her."

Trent laughed awkwardly, "Actually, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Not yet, you mean." Caelan said, "I'm sure you'll find romance fast in the islands."

Trent smiled, "You think so?"

"I know so. You're just radiating coolness."

Trent laughed, "Thanks, Caelan. You're pretty cool yourself."

"I think adorkable is a better word." Caelan admitted. The two laughed and started to talk more. After a while, Caelan's stomach began to growl, so he bid farewell to Trent and went off to search for food.

After a couple of minutes, it became apparent that there were no buffets on the ship. Lucky for Caelan, he packed some snacks. As Caelan searched for a good spot to eat, he heard someone moaning. He followed the sounds and it led him to a big girl with a ponytail. She was sitting against the wall and rubbing her stomach.

"Hey, are you alright?" Caelan said.

"Not really." The girl said, "I missed breakfast this morning and there's no food on this crummy place. I mean, what kind of big, fancy ship doesn't even have one lousy buffet."

"I know, right?" Caelan said as he took the seat next to the girl. He then took a bag of cookies out of his satchel and handed them to the girl.

"Thanks, honey." The girl said, "I'm Leshawna."

"I'm Caelan."

Leshawna took one of the cookies from the bag and bit into it. After the first bite, she exclaimed, "This is banging! Where the heck did you buy this?!"

"I made them."

Leshawna's eyes widened, "For real? Listen here, Caelan, you're a culinary master, and don't let no one tell you otherwise."

Caelan laughed, "You know what, just for that, you can have the whole bag."

Leshawna chuckled, "So you're generous _and_ a cook. Well aren't you a man after my own heart."

The two continued to laugh and talked for a while. After the two finished the bag of cookies, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Caelan didn't get far when he met the next contestant. He was walking down a hallway when he heard noises right below him. He looked down and saw an air vent. He blinked and a girl's face suddenly appeared on the other side of the vent. Caelan jumped back in shock as the vent flew open and a girl with bright orange hair popped out.

"Is it my turn yet?" she asked excitingly.

"W-what are you talking about?" Caelan said, completely confused.

"I'm talking about how you're bonding with all of the other contestants, and I was wondering whether it was my turn. Whoops, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Izzy."

"I'm Caelan."

Izzy grabbed Caelan's hand, which he hadn't yet extended, and shook it vigorously, "Well Caelan, now that we're friends, I know of a certain rat who owes me some bet winnings." And with that, Izzy hopped back down into the vents, leaving behind a baffled Caelan.

Caelan walked some more and met the rest of contestants with mixed results. There was Justin, who seemed more interested in himself than Caelan, Ezekiel, who didn't get any references Caelan made, Harold, a guy who said he would lend Caelan his 'mad skills' anytime he wanted, Noah, who just read a book the whole time Caelan was talking, Katie, who couldn't stop talking about her friend Sadie, and Sadie, who couldn't stop talking about her friend Katie.

Caelan continued to walk around when he thought he saw the last contestant. The guy was wearing a skull T-shirt and had a green hair. Caelan walked up to him and prepared to introduce himself, but the other guy held up a hand and said,

"Listen, buddy, I know you're gonna try to be all nice and after-school special-ly, but I'm not interested. I rather not associate myself with some poser."

"Um, okay." Caelan said unsurely, "Can I at least get a name?"

"Duncan." The guy said. He then walked away without another word. Caelan just stood his ground and thought, '_Geez, kind of a dick move.'_

It was then that the speakers on the ship came on. The voice on the speakers then said, "This is your captain speaking. Everyone, report to the front deck immediately."

Caelan followed the captain's orders and walked to the front deck. Once he arrived at his destination, he saw that every other contestant had arrived as well. He even saw someone he didn't get to introduce himself. Caelan walked up to the guy, who was three times his size, and said, "Hi, I'm Caelan."

The guy turned around and he had a big smile on his face, "I'm Owen, and I'm really stoked to be here."

"Right on. Do you know why we're here on the deck?"

"Nope." Owen said, but that didn't stop him from smiling.

"Hey look!"

Everyone turned and Caelan saw that it was Beth who spoke. She was pointing at 22 speed boats that were a little farther ahead of the ship they were currently on. It was then that Caelan noticed that the ship stopped moving.

"What are those for?" Trent said curiously.

DJ, who was next to Trent, said, "Well, there 22 speed boats, and 22 of us, so one for each of us."

"So is this our first competition?" Harold asked, "Do we have race with them?"

When Caelan heard the word competition, his mind suddenly became more focused.

"If it is our first competition, then how are we supposed to get to the boats?" Gwen asked, "There's not a ladder in sight. And what idiot would be willing to jump off?"

That was when everyone heard rushing footsteps behind them. They all turned in time to see Caelan sprint to the railings, hop on them, and then dive into the water below.

"Well, I got an answer." Gwen said as Caelan's body disappeared into the sea.

"Hey guys," Courtney said, "don't you think we should help him? He might be hurt."

"Or dead." Gwen stated stoically.

Caelan resurfaced and was inhaling deeply,

"That was an awesomely bad idea." Caelan yelled. He then looked up and waved, "Come on, guys, the water's great!"

No one followed suit, so Caelan shrugged, "Fine. Last one there's a rotten egg!" And with that, Caelan used his luggage to help him float and swam to one ofthe boats.

As Caelan got closer to the speedboats, Tyler said, "You know what, I'm not losing to him again." And jumped off.

Next was Eva, who said, "Well, I did say I'd race him again." And she jumped off.

Bridgette looked at the sea and smiled, "Might as well get some time with my board." And she jumped off two.

Geoff yelled out, "Party!" for some reason and he jumped into the water as well, closely followed by Izzy, who yelled, "Banzai!"

"So," Duncan said, "Anyone else want to follow Head Dork?"

Everyone looked at the waters and said in unison, "No."

They all leaned against the railings and saw that Caelan was the first to make it to the boats. Leshawna then said, "Looks like that boy is gonna make this a pretty interesting eight weeks."

Trent laughed, "Well, at least it won't be boring."

Just then, the captain of the ship appeared and said, "If you will all follow me, I will lead you to the life rafts that we will use to take you to your speed boat."

Owen then said, "Alright, let's start this adventure. Yeah!"


	2. First day of the new life

Caelan was standing at the very tip of the speed boat as it sped to what appeared to be an island. After standing in the sun for a while, his clothes were dry and he was ready for whatever Total Drama Island had to throw at him. As his boat got closer, he realized that the application was a lie and that they were not staying at a five-star resort. His boat finally reached a dingy peer and he hopped off with his luggage. He then made his way to the host, Chris McLean.

"Caelan! Glad to have you on our show." Chris said, holding up his hand for a handshake, "How's your brother doing."

Caelan took the hand and shook, "Cody's doing fine. He just really hates my guts right now."

Chris laughed, "Yeah, if my brother ever stole my chance at the spotlight, I'd probably hate him too."

And with that, Caelan laughed nervously and walked past Chris to the other side of the peer, where he was surprised to find a large number of contestants have already arrived.

"How did you guys get here before me?" Caelan asked as he started high fiving everyone.

"I don't know, man." Geoff said after accepting Caelan's high five, "We just got on the boats and they brought us here."

"I guess it doesn't pay to always jump the gun." Gwen stated. She stared at Caelan's raised hand for a second before high fiving it.

"Trust me, Gwen, it will pay off eventually." Caelan said confidently. He then took his place next to Trent and Gwen.

After a couple of minutes, everyone arrived and they all took a commemorative photo together, which ended with a big drop into the ocean. Then, everyone was sent to the campfire pit and got the basic introduction of Camp Wawanaka. As Chris continued to talk, Caelan looked around and started to think about his situation. Everyone seemed friendly enough, and he seemed to get along well enough with them. He still had no idea what to think of with Heather, and Duncan might be a future problem (Caelan couldn't trust someone who would bully a deer).

"Caelan"

"What?" Caelan said as he was snapped out of his thinking state. He saw that it was Chris that called him and he was pointing toward Gwen, Trent, and Heather. Caelan walked to where those three were standing and waited as others joined them.

Once Caelan and ten other contestants were situated together, Chris said, "From this moment on, you guys will be officially known as…The Screaming Gopher."

"Huh, I never knew Gophers could scream." Caelan thought aloud.

After the other team, The Killer Bass, was formed, Chris continued to explain about the many cameras around the island and the confessional.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan_**

"So, my first confessional….I have no idea what to say."

…

"Go Screaming Gophers!"

* * *

Everyone was then sent to the cabins, where they would be sleeping for the remainder of the game. As Caelan was unpacking with the other guys at their respective sleeping den, they all heard screaming at the girl's den. Everyone ran in and saw Lindsay screaming at a cockroach.

"Seriously?" Caelan said, flabbergasted, "I thought you were being murdered."

As everyone scattered to avoid the cockroach, Caelan sighed and brought his foot down hard on the roach.

"There, now there's nothing to be scared of." Caelan said. Things seemed to have calmed down, at least until Caelan's foot moved involuntarily. Confused, he lifted up his foot and saw the cockroach was still alive and unscarred.

"What the…?" Caelan said.

Leshawna was laughing as she walked toward the Caelan, "Looks like you need to cook yourself some protein, honey." She said and then she stomped the cockroach, but it still remained very much alive. Harold was next to stomp the roach, but he was actually knocked down by the vermin.

"Okay, now we're in trouble." Caelan said as they all slowly backed away from the roach.

"Move aside, ladies." Duncan said from behind. Caelan turned around and barely managed to get out of the way as Duncan brought down an axe on the cockroach, finally ending its reign of terror.

Tyler then rushed into the room to comfort Lindsay. Caelan then turned to Duncan and said, "Where did you get that axe?"

"I just found it lying around. You know, I think I'm gonna keep this thing just in case there are any other annoying pests."

Duncan eyed Caelan for a while before laughing maliciously.

"And there goes my peaceful nights of sleep." Caelan said as Duncan walked away with his axe.

* * *

After the cockroach incident, all of the campers walked to the mess hall, where they met the chief named Chief. After his terrifying introduction, they lined up for what Caelan had hoped was at least edible. Caelan was finally next and Chief gave him what appeared to be a really sloppy joe.

"Wow, this looks…exotic." Caelan said cautiously, "So, Chief, from one cook to another, what kind of spices did you use?"

Chief glared a Caelan, who took the hint, "Okay, it's a secret. I totally understand." And with that, Caelan quickly retreated to his team's table. After Caelan sat the down, he poked his food, which somehow caused it to scurry off the table.

"I am now officially terrified." Caelan said. His teammates witnessed the runaway food and all agreed with him. Leshawna leaned toward him, "Yo, can you please hook us up with some real food?"

All of his teammates looked hopefully at him. Luckily, Caelan had a bag of snacks in his pocket, which he promptly pulled out. But the moment the snacks were in the open, a knife whizzed through the air, hit the bag of snacks, and stuck it to the wall. They all turned and saw that Chief was the one that threw the knife.

"The only food allowed in this room is my food!" Chief said, "If any other cooks think they can come into my territory, then they will be what I serve up next."

"Point taken." Caelan said, feeling defeated. He somehow felt that things will only get progressively worse.

* * *

**_20 minutes later_**

* * *

"I hate it when I'm right about bad things." Caelan groaned. He and his team were all in swimsuits for their first challenge; jumping off a huge cliff into a small safe zone surrounded by shark-infested waters. The Killer Bass had nine jumpers and two chickens, which meant that his team must have to get at least ten jumpers. Caelan could already tell that the Gophers weren't thrill with the prospect.

Once their turn began, Trent said the thing everyone was dreading, "Okay guys, who's up first?"

"Me!" Caelan shouted instinctively. He then began to silently curse himself.

"Seriously?" Gwen said in awe, "You're jumping the gun now?"

"Yep." Caelan said as he anxiously stretched his leg. As he stretched, he vaguely heard Heather complaining about not wanting to jump because of her hair. Then he heard Leshawna telling her to jump. After that the two got into an argument that quickly got worse and worse.

Trent then leaned toward Caelan, "Um, should we stop them?"

"Don't worry, I'm on." Caelan said.

* * *

Heather then smiled wickedly at Leshawna, "Well at least I'm popular-"

Before the argument could escalate, Caelan rushed forward, grabbed Heather by the waist, and he threw himself and her off the cliff. After a heart racing fall, with Heather constantly screaming in Caelan's ear, they managed to make it into the safe zone. They were submerged for a second before resurfacing.

"Yeah!" Caelan roared, "That was awesome!. High five, Heather!"

Heather then gave Caelan a hard slap across the face.

"I deserved that." Caelan admitted.

"You're so gonna regret this." Heather stated before swimming away.

After that, Caelan stayed in the safe zone and high fived all of his teammates that jumped in. He was later joined by Trent and Noah as all of the Gophers cheered on Owen to jump.

"Come on, buddy!" Caelan yelled, "Do this jump and I'll make you a pie."

After a moment's pause, Owen jumped and his screams filled the air. Caelan, Trent, and Noah cheered him on, but Caelan soon realized they were in a predicament.

"You know, we're probably in his blast radius." Caelan told the two other boys. They all then stared at Owen, who was getting closer.

"SCATTER!" Caelan said, but it was too late. Owen reached the water and they were all swept up by the massive wave he created. One of the waves was quickly sending Caelan to a collision course with a tree, he couldn't help but think, _'We won'_.

**_*SMACK*_**

* * *

After a brief blackout, Caelan awoke to see all of his teammates dressed and the next part of the challenge; getting their crates back to camp. Since they won the first part of the challenge, they were able to use carts.

"Hey Caelan!" Owen said as soon as he saw him, "I did it!"

"I know, and you were awesome!" Caelan said as he walked to one of the carts.

"Thanks! So…about that pie…"

"Don't worry about the pie. I'm on it." Caelan said as he started to pull one of the carts, "Alright everyone, let's get back to the cabins." He then began to sing, "_'99 bottles of pop on the wall, 99 bottles of pop. Take one down, pass it around, you got 98 bottles of pop on the wall.'_ Come on guys, everyone sing!"

The Screaming Gophers stared at Caelan. They then all shrugged in unison and joined his singing.

* * *

**_10 minutes later_**

* * *

The Screaming Gophers were all searching through their crates to complete their next part of the challenge; building a hot tub. Caelan and Leshawna were both looking through one of the crates when Heather and Lindsay walked up to them.

The moment Caelan saw Heather, he said, "Hey, I'm really sorry that I forced you to jump off the cliff."

"It's okay." Heather said, "I'm actually here to apologize to you about how I said you would regret it. That was totally uncalled for. And Leshawna, I'm sorry I called you a Ghetto rap star wannabe. I didn't mean it. Plus, I love your earrings."

"Straight up?" Leshawna said, "Well, then I'm sorry you I said you peaked at high school."

Heather smiled, "Truce?"

Caelan and Leshawna both nodded. Then, Heather and Lindsay walked away.

"Well, that was nice of her." Caelan said.

"Yeah, it kinda was." Leshawna admitted, "Although, something tells me she's gonna irritate me again with her attitude."

"I wouldn't be surprised by that." Caelan said.

* * *

As Heather and Lindsay walked away, Lindsay asked, "Did you mean all of those things?"

"Of course not." Heather said, "Those two are going down. I only said those things to get on their good side. Then, I'll take them done when their least suspecting."

"Ok, okay." Lindsay said. She was still confused by the whole thing, but she didn't lead on.

* * *

After a quick building montage, the two teams finished their hot tubs. In the end, the Gophers won, gaining immunity and their own hot tub.

* * *

**_Later that night…_**

* * *

Caelan was in the hot tub with Trent, Heather, Justin, and Lindsay. The team were all relaxing after their first victory.

"Man, this pie is awesome!" Owen said as he scarfed down the pie Caelan made for him, "Thanks a lot, Caelan."

"Hey, I always keep my word." Caelan said.

"Where did you get the ingredients?" Lindsay asked.

"I stole them from Chief's kitchen."

"Seriously?" Trent said, amazed.

"Yep." Caelan said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I only took a little bit. Chief won't notice. I also snag these."

Caelan then pulled out two six-packs of sodas and passed them around to a cheering public. He held up his soda and said, "To the Screaming Gophers. May this be the first of many victories."

"The Screaming Gophers" the rest of the team said in unison.


	3. Who needs sleep?

Caelan was dreaming about giant marshmallows eating his flock of lambs when he was rudely awakened by what sounded like an air horn being blown through a trumpet. Everyone in the boy's cabin spoke out in resentment as they got up to see where the noise came from. Caelan looked out the window and was not surprised to see Chris holding the noise makers.

"Good morning campers." Chris said joyfully, "Get dressed and come out for your next challenge."

"How the hell could he be so peppy this early in the morning?" Caelan asked as everyone slowly got dressed. After a couple of minutes, the campers walked out of the cabins and waited for the other straggling campers. Caelan found an open spot next to Eva and stood there. Then he suddenly heard familiar music. He turned and saw Eva's MP3 was blasting music.

"Roaring Tigers?" Caelan asked.

Eva turned to him and nodded, "Yep. You like them too?"

"They make good workout music."

Eva nodded in agreement as Chris greeted the baggy-eyed campers.

"Alright everyone, you better get your blood pumping because you'll have to do a 20 kilometer run around the lake. This will probably the chance for some of you to display your best and only good quality."

He glanced at Eva while he was saying this, and she didn't take it too well,

"Oh, you think you're funny, huh?" Eva growled. She was about to lunge at Chris, but Caelan, Geoff, and Dustin were able to hold her down while Courtney calmed her down.

"You better watch you're back, little man." Eva told Chris, who merely chuckled.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan _**

"Seriously, Eva needs to learn to control that temper. I mean, I'm all for standing up for yourself when you're insulted, but there has to be a line you shouldn't cross. Something tells me this will bite her in the butt if she's not careful."

* * *

All of the campers were lined up for their run.

Caelan was standing next to Eva when he said, "Alright then, let round 2 of our race begin."

Eva grinned, "Bring it on."

Chris gave the signal to run and the campers were off. After a couple of seconds, Eva and Caelan were in the lead as they tried to outstretch the other. After a while, the two runners had left everyone else in the dust.

"Looks like you'll actually give me a challenge." Eva remarked as they reach their halfway mark.

"This is…nothing." Caelan said, slightly out of breath.

"You still have got a long ways to go before you could beat me." Eva said. And with that, she tore past Caelan and left him in the dust.

"Oh thank God." Caelan said as he collapsed to the floor, exhausted. Even though he was unable to beat Eva, he could at least say he beat everyone else. With that nice thought, Caelan dragged his tired body to the finish line.

* * *

After half an hour, everyone was at the mess hall where they were all served a huge buffet that was like heaven after all of the slop Chief forced down their throats. After the meal, all of the campers longed for sleep. Of course, Chris then revealed what their challenge would be; staying awake for as long as you can.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan _**

"Chris, you officially have my respect. Also, screw you!"

* * *

And so, the contest started as everyone was gathered around the campfire pit. Things started out easy enough, but it got steadily harder after the twelve hour mark.

"Come on y'all, we gotta stay awake." Caelan said as he did jumping jacks in place.

"Yeah! Caelan's right." Owen said excitingly. "Come on, let's start doing-"

Owen passed out before he could finish the statement. Caelan yawned tiredly and took a seat next to Trent. It was then that Caelan heard a bit of Trent's conversation with Gwen.

"This is the most boring thing I've ever done in my life." Gwen said.

"It could be way worse." Trent said.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I could be stuck here without you to talk to." Trent said genuinely.

Caelan laughed softly after hearing that, "Damn. That was so smooth."

Leshawna, who was sitting close by, also heard it and said, "Yep. That boy is smoother than a waxed baby's bottom."

Caelan nodded in agreement, "He could teach Cody a thing or two."

"Who's Cody?" Leshawna asked.

"My little brother."

"Oh, you mean the brother you stole the spotlight from." Leshawna said with a sly smile.

"I didn't mean to." Caelan said desperately, but Leshawna laughed,

"I'm just messing with you. I know you're not that type of guy. So, tell me about your brother. What's he like?"

"You really wanna know?" Caelan asked.

"Well, it's better than doing nothing. Plus, talking might keep us awake."

"Alright then. Well, my brother Cody always tries to be smooth, but he's not really good at it. But, he is a genius with the sciences."

* * *

**_So many hours later…_**

* * *

"So then while I distracted the principal, Cody snuck into his office with his voice modulator, and started to say to profess his love to all of the female teachers in the principal's voice."

Leshawna laughed at Caelan's story, "Man, no matter how much you say your brother hates you, you two sound real close."

"We kind of are." Caelan said, "I mean, both of our parents work a lot, so it's usually just me and him."

Leshawna yawned, "And I'm guessing because your parents work so much, that's why you're such a good cook."

"Yep. It was either learning to cook, or eat take-out all the time. Alright, your turn. Tell me another story about you and your cousin Leshaniqua."

"Okay, so…this one…time…"

Caelan turned and saw Leshawna slowly falling asleep.

"Stay awake, Leshawna." Caelan said urgently. He got up and managed to stand Leshawna up. He tried to shake her awake, but that proved to be a bad idea. He was so exhausted that he wasn't able to keep her. So he ended up falling to the floor with Leshawna's sleeping body on top of him.

"Someone please help." Caelan cried. Lucky for him, Trent and Gwen were close by and with all of them working together, they rolled Leshawna over.

"Thanks guys." Caelan said gracefully, "Unfortunately, it looks like we lost another player."

"Well that sucks." Gwen said, "There's not that many of us left."

Caelan sighed, "Mind if I hang with you guys for a while?"

"Sure." Trent said as he patted the ground next to him.

"Thanks." Caelan said. He sat down and then looked up at the starry night sky, "Wow, you don't see that in the city."

"Yeah." Gwen said with a smile, "The night sky is pretty great."

As Gwen, Trent, and Caelan stared at the night sky, Caelan remembered something.

"Hey, Gwen," He said, "Didn't you say you'd teach me about astrology?"

Gwen yawned, "I said I might."

"Well, teaching and learning might help us stay awake. Plus, Trent wants to learn too. Right, Trent?"

"Sure." Trent said, "I'd love to learn from you, Gwen."

Gwen smiled, "Alright, you two win." She looked up at the sky and then pointed, "First lesson; see that big, bright star? That's the Pole Star. That is what connects the Big Dipper to the Little Dipper."

As Gwen continued to talk, she and Trent heard light snoring. They turned and saw that Caelan had finally succumbed to sleep.

* * *

Caelan woke up with a start. He momentarily forgot why he was at the campfire pit when he remembered the challenge. He looked around and the saw the last two campers awake were Gwen and Dustin.

"Alright Gwen!" Caelan said slightly groggily.

Gwen merely registered Caelan's existence and waved at him. Caelan then turned and saw that  
Duncan was going to the bathroom with a cameraman following him. Chris was looking like he was close to sleep himself. Caelan then turned to Gwen, who was beginning to sleep.

"Don't give up yet, Gwen!" Caelan whispered urgently. He didn't want to alert Chris. When Gwen appeared to be sleeping, Caelan became desperate and slapped Gwen across the face. This got mixed results. On one hand, it got Gwen to wake up. On the other, Gwen reacted instinctively and threw a punch, which got a clean hit on Caelan's family jewels.

Gwen yawned, "What happened?" she then looked down and wondered why Caelan was on the floor, rolling in pain. Before she could make sense of the situation, Chris came up to Gwen, "Congratulations, Gwen. Duncan passed out in the stalls, so it looks like the Screaming Gofers won the awake-a-thon!"

"Yay!" Caelan wheezed happily. As he was cheering, he realized that he was lying close to a sleeping Heather. And next to Heather, he saw Eva's MP3 player. Caelan grabbed the music device and made a point to return it later.

* * *

Heather was victoriously walking toward the girl's cabin. Even from a distance, she was still able to hear Eva's rampage. Heather did her best to hide her scheming smile as she got closer. However, her smile turned into a confused frown when she stopped hearing the rampage.

When Heather finally reached the cabin, she was shocked to see that Eva was holding her MP3 and smiling gratefully at Caelan. The boy smiled and waved goodbye as he left. Caelan then spotted Heather and walked toward her.

"Hey Heather, what's up?" Caelan asked.

"Oh, I, uh, heard the commotion and thought I'd check it out." Heather said still baffled.

"Well, the commotion's resolved. Eva just had a fit over losing her MP3, but I found it and returned it to her."

Heather looked past Caelan and saw that the Killer Bass team was still looking at Eva angrily. Her original plan of getting the Bass to vote out Eva was still working.

"You're a pretty nice guy." Heather complemented, "Well, see ya later."

As she waved Caelan goodbye, Heather began to ponder how to use Caelan's niceness to her advantage. After all, she could never have too many pawns.


	4. Balls!

All of the campers were in the dining hall having some breakfast. They were all still tired after last night's awake-a-thon. Caelan scanned the room and saw that Duncan and Gwen had it rough. Caelan tried to find ways to cheer up the Goth girl, but she merely responded with angry growls. It was then that Heather leaned toward Caelan,

"Having fun with sleeping beauty here?" Heather asked. Before Caelan could respond, Heather said, "Listen, I have a once-in-a-lifetime proposition for you. I am thinking of allowing you to join in an alliance with Beth, Lindsay, and I. If you play your cards right, I can get you into the top four."

Caelan was slightly confused by the sudden invitation, but it sounded like a good deal. He nodded and said, "Sure, this alliance might be fun."

"Great, now, join me in a little team gloating."

Heather stood up and started bashing on the Killer Bass for voting of Eva last night. The Bass didn't take the insult well. Courtney retaliated by flinging oatmeal at Heather, who dodged and the oatmeal hit Gwen in the face.

Caelan turned to Gwen and said, "Um, Gwen, you got a little-"

"Shut up, Caelan." Gwen said irritably, "I know."

* * *

**_Confessionals: Heather _**

"I'm only allowing Caelan into my alliance because his nice guy attitude is easy to manipulate. I can probably even convince him to vote himself off."

* * *

Later in the day, all the campers met up at a see-through gym for their next challenge; a dodgeball match. The best of five games would win. The first team for the Gophers was made up of Caelan, Leshawna, Owen, Lindsay, and Heather. The Bass's team comprised of DJ, Courtney, Katie, Tyler, and Harold. After a bit of trash talking, the first round started. It became pretty obvious that Harold and Tyler were one of the worst players on the field.

As Caelan dodged another ball, he noticed that Tyler and Lindsay were staring intimately at each other.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan _**

"I have always loved to see romance blossom. I think it was because my mom always read to me fairytales as a kid. And since I'm now in an alliance with Lindsay, I figured I should help her with love."

* * *

As Caelan pondered what he could do for Lindsay and Tyler, he suddenly realized that he was the last man standing on his team while the Bass still had DJ and Katie.

"Easy out, guys" Courtney told her Bass members. DJ nodded in agreement and threw his ball, but Caelan swiftly dodged it. Katie also threw her ball and Caelan side-stepped it. Caelan then grabbed two balls and started zigzagging in all directions. The Bass members were in total confusion and they failed to notice the two dodgeballs until it was too late.

"The Screaming Gophers take the first round." Chris said as the Gophers cheered Caelan on.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan _**

"One of my neighbors back home was an old, Russian gymnast. After I helped her with a few errands, she taught me how to be as dexterous as she was in her youth. It was one of the most brutal trainings I've ever had, but looks like it finally paid off."

* * *

The next round started and Tyler managed to hit Lindsay in the face. Even from the stands, Caelan was still able to see every last bruise on her face. As Lindsay and Tyler walked out of the gym, Heather tried to stop them. Caelan then stepped in front of Heather and said,

"Don't worry, I'll deal with this."

Heather smiled, "Good. Do it quickly, and I will guarantee you a spot at the top three."

"So now it's top three? Nice."

Caelan than quickly left the gym and caught up with the two love birds.

"Lindsay, Tyler, wait up."

Lindsay saw Caelan and smiled, "Hi, K. Heather told me you're in our alliance now. Congratulations! We're like one big happy family."

"So, did Heather tell you to take Lindsay back?" Tyler said as he puffed out his chest in a threatening manner.

"Simmer down, lover boy." Caelan said, "I'm here to help you."

"Really?" Tyler said, surprised, "Why?"

"Because you two goofs are too cute together. You're like Romeo and Juliet, except without the dying part."

"Aw, thank you." Lindsay said.

Caelan smiled, "Alright, first we need to find you two a good place to hide."

Caelan then led the two to the pier and told them to hide under while he made sure they weren't disturbed. It was going well for a while until Caelan saw Heather approaching. Caelan ran toward her and said, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm wondering where the heck my alliance members went. So, where's Lindsay?"

"Um, I-I don't know." Caelan said. He cursed himself. Lying was one of the things he was terrible at, "I g-guess she might have already returned to the court. We should probably go back and-"

He stopped when Lindsay's giggling reached them both. Heather then kicked Caelan in the jewels and walked past him. As Caelan writhed in pain, he heard a crashing sound and Tyler's cry of pain. Heather then came back with Lindsay behind her, who looked very glum. Heather then knelt down to Caelan's level and said, "If I ever find out you pulled a stunt like this again, you're out of the alliance, got it?"

"Yeah…" Caelan said, "But why did you have to hit me so low?"

"So you could learn. Now get up."

Lindsay and Caelan walked back with Heather to the competition, where it was revealed that the Gophers and Bass were tied. Caelan decided to be one of the first to play. If he won the game, then he might get on Heather's good side again.

The battle raged on for an hour. Caelan was playing his best and he had not been hit by a ball a single time. While impressive, he was dead tired. After what seemed like an hour, it was only him and Gwen on the Gophers, and DJ and Harold on the Bass. DJ threw a ball at Gwen, but Caelan blocked it. Caelan then passed his ball to Gwen, who chucked it at DJ just as DJ threw another ball. The two then ended up hitting each other, leaving only Caelan and Harold. The Gophers all cheered and Caelan smiled gratefully.

"It's been…fun," Caelan panted, "but…it's over…"

Caelan threw the ball with all he had, but Harold gracefully dodged it. Caelan blinked and threw another ball. Once again, Harold's swan like moves saved him from being hit. Tired and furious, Caelan grabbed all of the balls he could and started chucking then as fast as he could, and Harold dodged just as fast.

Everyone was left in awe as the Bass called a time out. Caelan said a silent thanks and walked to his team.

"You got this, man." Owen encouraged.

"Yeah, knock that little string bean out." Leshawna said.

"You better do this or else you'll be voted out." Noah said. He hadn't played all game and he didn't even bother looking up from his book the whole time.

"Ignore him, Caelan." Gwen said, "Just do what you do, and win us the game."

"Alright." Caelan said. The time out was over and Caelan got back onto the court. He stared down Harold and grabbed his dodgeball. The Screaming Gophers were holding their breath as Caelan threw the ball and it hit Harold right in the stomach. Caelan was about to cheer when the worst happened; Harold caught the ball.

"NO!" Caelan said as he fell to the floor, exhausted. The Killer Bass all chanted Harold's name as they carried him off the court.

"What happened, Gophers?" Chris said with his ever present smile.

"Weak effort, Chris." Noah said, finally looking up from his book, "Plus, Caelan didn't even really try."

"Oh shut it, Noah." Gwen said.

"The white girl is right." Leshawna said, "You need to adjust that attitude of yours."

Gwen and Leshawna then helped Caelan to his feet while the rest of the Gophers stared angrily at Noah, who didn't seem too bothered at all.

* * *

Caelan sat nervously at his first elimination campfire. He was the one who lost the game, so he was probably the chose to be voted off.

Chris was holding the tray of marshmallows as he explained how once they're voted off, they can never come back.

"When I call your name, come get a marshmallow." Chris said. He then called the first name, "Caelan."

Caelan immediately got up and cheered. He thankfully got his marshmallow as he waited for the rest of the team. In the end, it was Noah who had to go home. Of course, Noah had one last insult to give, but no one bothered to listen as the Gophers all pelted him with marshmallows. As Caelan laughed with the rest of his team, he couldn't help but wonder when his time would come for him to ride the boat of losers.


	5. Talent Show!

The campers were all sitting on the stands that faced the Total Drama Island amphitheater. Like usual, it was early in the morning, so there wasn't much chatter. Over in the top row on the Screaming Gopher's side, Caelan was sitting next to Heather, Lindsay, and Beth. Caelan was tired from waking up two hours early. The reason was that Heather, after learning about his cooking abilities, demanded Caelan cook her crepes for breakfast. This involved Caelan sneaking into Chief's kitchen while everyone was asleep and making sure he didn't leave any evidence that he was ever there. Of course, Caelan wouldn't have minded it as much if he at least had gotten a thank you.

Caelan watched Heather devour the last of the crepes. She then turned to him and said, "Make me more."

"Say the magic word." Caelan said grumpily.

"Now!" Heather demanded. She then turned to Lindsay, who was blowing kisses to Tyler, "And you, airhead, stop flirting with the enemy!"

"Just let them be." Caelan told Heather, "I doubt anyone would entrust them with any important secrets. No offense." He added as he turned to Lindsay.

Lindsay shook her head, "None taken. When you say stuff like that, it doesn't sound very mean."

Heather cleared her throat and turned to Caelan, "Listen, you're on thin ice. Ever since you joined the alliance, you have disobeyed me and cost us last week's challenge. If you keep this up, you're out."

"Fine, I'll be good." Caelan grumbled.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan_**

"Normally I would be a team player, but something about Heather seriously irritates me. I'm starting to wonder why I even joined this alliance."

* * *

After Chris McLean explained that the next challenge would be a talent show, the two teams went back to the cabins to decide which three teammates would represent the whole team.

Heather was chosen to be the team captain for the Gophers and she nominated herself, Lindsay, and Beth as judges. Caelan, feeling the need to prove himself, decided to audition.

"Alright Caelan, what can you do?" Heather asked while the rest of the Gopher observed Caelan.

"I can juggle-"

"Next!" Heather said almost immediately.

"What the hell?" Caelan said, "Why?"

"Because juggling is really lame." Heather said, "Now go stand in the back and think about what you did."

"What the hell did I do?" Caelan asked as he went to the sit next to Trent and Gwen.

"You probably just ticked her off." Gwen said.

"Damn, Heather is more prone to revenge than Eva." Caelan said, "Anyways," he turned to Trent, "you're gonna audition, right? I still remember how you played on the boat that brought us here. You were great."

"Caelan's right." Gwen said, "I heard you last night at the docks. Your music really is great."

Trent smiled and said, "Well, if you guys say so, then maybe I will."

The audition continued with Owen burping the alphabet. While impressive, it was turned down for being too gross. Next was Heather, who was actually amazing at Ballet. This made Heather the first representative for the talent show. While Izzy prepared for her snake dance, Heather dragged Lindsay and Caelan aside.

"Listen," She said, "I need you two to follow Gwen. She's up to something and I want to know what."

"Um, why do you need two people for this?" Caelan asked.

"Okay, your questioning is starting to get really annoying. I need you to make sure Lindsay doesn't do anything stupid, and if _you_ do something stupid, Lindsay will report it to me." Heather said. She then handed the two a pair of walkie talkies and binoculars, "Now move!"

"Will it kill you to say please?" Caelan said.

"No, but not doing what I tell you will bite you in the butt later."

Caelan sighed, "Alright, let's go Lindsay."

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan_**

"Now I'm starting to wonder why I'm even still in this alliance. Lindsay and Beth are okay, but Heather is just plain rude."

* * *

Caelan and Lindsay stood behind a tree and watched as Gwen scribbled down in what Caelan assumed was her diary.

"This is soooooo boring." Lindsay said.

Caelan nodded in agreement, "It is, but we have to do this. I don't know why, but we have to. So stay focus, Lindsay."

"Oh I'm focusing alright." Lindsay said with a giggle.

Caelan turned and saw that Lindsay was eyeing Tyler, who somehow got himself tangled in yo-yo string. Lindsay then turned to Caelan and looked at him with big puppy-dog eyes.

Caelan sighed, "Fine, go and have fun while I do the boring stuff."

Lindsay smiled, gave Caelan a 'thank you' hug, and ran toward her lover. Caelan then turned his attention back to Gwen, who was still minding her own business.

_'__What's up with Heather's fascination with Gwen?'_ Caelan thought. As the minutes rolled on, Gwen still had not moved and she continued to write. Eventually, Caelan got fed and walked up to Gwen,

"Alright, be straight with me," Caelan said as soon as he reached the Goth girl, "are you up to anything?"

Gwen turned to Caelan and raised an eyebrow, "Um, no."

"Okay, good." Caelan said. He silently cursed Heather for making him waste so much time on nothing. Since he didn't want this whole experience to be pointless, Caelan decided to know more about Gwen.

"So, what are you writing?" Caelan asked.

"Private stuff." Gwen said.

"Oh, that's neat. So, penny for your thoughts?"

"If I wanted to tell you my secrets, I wouldn't be writing in my diary now, would I?"

"Right." Caelan said. He didn't know what to say. He thought of what his brother Cody would do at this moment, but all of the results would probably end up with a kick to the groan. Instead, Caelan said, "So, is your hair color naturally like that?"

Gwen scoffed slightly and rolled her eyes. She then turned to Caelan, "Listen, I get that you're trying to be a nice guy, but you're trying way too hard. Just let the conversations come naturally."

"Oh, you mean like how Trent does it? Is that why you always seem to hang out with him?"

Gwen's cheek then turned the slightest shade of pink, "N-not always. But, if he wants to hang out, then I'll hang out with him. Anyways, I have to go."

Gwen then stood up and made her way back to the cabins. Caelan waited for a while and then made his way back to camp. As he walked back, he was reunited with Lindsay, who was looking very happy.

Once back at camp, Caelan saw Gwen, in a swimsuit, walking with Trent to the pier together. Heather then came up to Caelan and Lindsay and said, "Well? What'd you find out?"

Caelan was the one to speak, "Nothing important. Gwen was just writing in her diary like a regular teenager."

Heather suddenly had an evil smile on her face that unnerved Caelan. The smile, however, only lasted for a moment. Heather then turned to Caelan with a normal smile, "Good job, Caelan. You're now on solid ice. Now, go to Trent and Justin to see if they are prepared for the talent show."

Caelan nodded and ran toward the pier. Once he was out of sight, Heather turned to Lindsay and said, "Do you remember how Gwen's diary looked like?"

"Um, I think so." Lindsay said.

"Good, because you're going to help me look for it."

* * *

It was nighttime and the Total Drama Island Talent Show had finally begun. Caelan was sitting with the rest of the Gopher and they all cheered on Justin as he did his weird modeling demonstration.

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan_**

"How does a guy get to be that pretty?! I mean, damn! He's Aphrodite's hotter brother."

* * *

The Bass's representative DJ did a neat little dance, but he tripped in the end. His score tanked and the Gophers were now in the lead. Next was Trent who, no surprise, played a beautiful song for some unknown girl. After that was the Bass's turn again, and their representative, Bridgette, had the most disgusting and impressive thing ever; projectile vomiting.

After a quick clean-up, the show was back on. Heather was the last of the Gophers and they all waited for her Ballet routine. When Heather finally walked on stage, she simply sat down on a stool and pulled out a familiar looking book.

"She wouldn't…" Caelan heard Gwen say. He then focused on the stage and saw that the book looked like Gwen's diary.

"Oh crap!" he said in a hushed voice. He then jumped off the stands and ran to the backstage of the amphitheater. After about a minute, he was on the right side of the stage, hidden behind the curtains. He could now clearly see that it was Gwen's diary

"Heather!" he whispered, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Heather waved a dismissive hand at Caelan. She then began to read the diary aloud. "Okay, so I'm trying to ignore him, but he's just so cute."

_'__Oh my God this is embarrassing!'_ Caelan thought. He could stop Heather right now, but if he did that, she will throw him out of the alliance. As much as he disliked her, Caelan knew that he would rather have Heather as a friend than an enemy.

Heather continued, "If they had custom ordered a guy to be a distraction for me, it would've been 'McHottie'. We just totally connect. He's been pretty much the only person I can relate to here. I know it's a cliché, but-"

Caelan couldn't take it anymore. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran on stage, grabbed the book from Heather's hands, and then proceeded to toss her backstage. Caelan then stared at the surprised crowd. He then looked toward where Gwen was sitting and saw that she looked mortified, as though expecting Caelan to continue reading from the diary. However, Caelan did not do read and proceeded to juggle the diary. While humming carnival music, he juggled for a good minute before he walked backstage. The crowd, still confused about what just happened, clapped politely and the Gophers received four points for Caelan's performance.

Heather was waiting for Caelan backstage. She was fuming when she said, "What were you thinking? Are you just trying to irritate me?"

"Okay, you know what?" Caelan said. He was irritated himself, "I can forgive you for not being grateful for the things Beth, Lindsay, and I do, and I can forgive your attitude sometimes, but embarrassing someone on live T.V by reading their diaries is crossing the line. And if that means I'm out of your alliance, then fine."

"You think you can quit like that! Only I can kick you out, and you better apologize or else you're out."

Before Caelan could respond, they heard hurrying footsteps approaching backstage. They saw that it was Gwen who was approaching. Heather suddenly hugged Caelan tightly and kissed him on the cheek. Caelan was too shocked to respond, which allowed Heather to say, "Thanks again, honey, for getting me Gwen's diary. It really means a lot to me."

And with that, Heather quickly backed away leaving Caelan and Gwen alone. Caelan tried to speak, but he was at a loss for words. Gwen had a stoic look as she held out her hand. Caelan knew what that meant and silently passed her back her diary. As Gwen walked away with her possession, Caelan finally said, "Wait, I didn't-"

Gwen swiftly turned around and kicked Caelan in the shin. As he hopped in pain, Gwen said, "Just stay away from me you creep! I thought you were trying to be nice and be my friend, but you're just as evil as Heather. You two really deserve each other." And with that, Gwen stomped away. Once she was gone, Heather came back into view and grinned,

"Looks like you made an enemy. You know what you could use now? An alliance."

Caelan growled and didn't look at Heather, but this only made her chuckle. She then grabbed Caelan's face and turned it toward hers. She said, "Listen, you just have apologize for ruining my diary reading and you're back in. I mean, it's either joining me, or be at the hands of weird Goth girl, who will no doubt tell everyone what a scheming weasel you are."

Caelan sighed; he knew that without Heather, he would be voted off next, and he didn't want to leave everyone with the impression that he was a total douche. So, Caelan swallowed his moral standards and said, "I'm sorry, Heather."

"Good." Heather said with a smile, "And hey, since Gwen saw me kissing you, you'll have the honor of pretending to be my boyfriend. Think of it as a bonus for being a part of my alliance."

"Oh my God." Caelan groaned.

Heather continued, "And since I'm now your girlfriend, I'll be expecting blueberry muffins for tomorrow's breakfast."

"Why not just put me out of my misery?"

"All in due time, sweetie."

* * *

**_Confessionals: Heather_**

"I'm only pretending to be Caelan's girlfriend so he can't go running out of my alliance. After all, no one will try to protect him after Gwen starts blabbing her mouth. Plus, I can always trade kisses for real food. I'm tired of eating Chief's slop."

* * *

**_Confessionals: Caelan_**

"I feel so dirty. It's like I sold my soul to the Devil's evil sister."

* * *

The talent show ended with the Killer Bass winning thanks to Harold's amazing beatboxing. The Gophers were in the campfire pit again and the last two campers were Heather and Justin. Caelan turned to his teammates and saw a number of reactions:

Gwen and Trent were staring daggers at him, Leshawna was staring suspiciously, Beth and Lindsay smiled but Beth's smile seemed a little nervous, Owen waved at him, and Izzy was just nodding her head to unheard music. Caelan sighed with relief; the reactions weren't as bad as he expected. Even so, Caelan decided to try and set the record straight before the competition was over. He turned to Heather, who blew him a kiss. Caelan knew that Heather wouldn't let him build friendship bridges easily, but he accepted the challenge.


End file.
